Portable AI on a USB Stick

Package an AI agent with bundled Python, Ollama, and memory into a 340MB self-contained package that runs on any x86_64 Linux machine.

Structure

norax-portable/
├── norax.sh          # Launcher
├── python/           # Standalone venv (252MB)
├── bin/ollama        # Ollama binary (42MB)
├── lib/ollama/       # GGML CPU libs (6.4MB)
├── norax/            # Agent source (2.1MB)
├── memory/           # Memory database (35MB)
└── config/           # Runtime config

Key Decisions

1. CPU-only Ollama — stripped GPU libs, saves 5GB
2. Bundled venv — no system Python needed
3. Relative paths — works from any mount point
4. Model download on first run

Results

• Full agent runtime with memory, tools, HTTP API
• Ollama inference (CPU mode)
• Memory persistence across sessions
• No system dependencies required

Portable AI is possible today. Bundle the runtime, strip the GPU libs, use relative paths.